In the business world, information may mean the difference between the success and failure of a business. The information may include customer and/or product information used by the business used to determine a marketing campaign or sales promotion. Often times, a business may pay another company to receive information about potential customers within one or more target demographics for such a marketing campaign. However, it may be the case that the information received from the company is in a format different from the format in which the business stores its data.
Unless the information received from the company is imported into the data structure by which the business stores its data, it may be difficult for the business to effectively and/or efficiently make use of the data. The business may prefer a way to quickly import the information, as received from one or more companies, into its own data structures such that the received information may be directly incorporated into its business plan or business model (e.g., marketing campaign). It may be the case that a business regularly receives data from one or more information providers. Then for example, the business may prefer that once a mapping format has been defined between a file structure associated with an information provider and the business's own data structures, that the business may reuse the mapping format when new or additional information is received from the information provider.
It may also be the case that even within a business, different parts of the business may need to communicate information with one another, however each part may store data or information in different data structures or formats. Thus, the business may prefer a way to expedite its own internal handling of data.